|
This show invites Audience Participation!
Come dressed in costume, dance the Time Warp, recite the audience's dialogue! We will have prop bags available for sale for $5 at all performances. Here is a website to help you prepare: Official Rocky Horror Show Website
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London in June of 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals". It tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad alien transvestite scientist unveiling his new creation, a muscle man named Rocky Horror. The musical was adapted into the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which today has a worldwide cult following and has the longest running release in film history. The Rocky Horror Show began as an experimental rock musical developed in early 1973 by actor-composer, Richard O'Brien with director, Jim Sharman, for a three week run at the Royal Court Theatre in London in its new works house - The Theatre Upstairs. The musical began it's life with the working title "They Came from Denton High," which was changed just before previews at the suggestion of Sharman to The Rocky Horror Show. Richard O'Brien's intentions were to combine elements of the unintentional humor of B movies and portentous dialogue of schlock horror. After two previews, the show premiered at the Royal Court's 63-seat Theatre Upstairs on June 19, 1973 and ran for a month. The production was a critical and commercial success. The cast included Tim Curry, Patricia Quinn, Little Nell, Julie Covington, and Richard O'Brien. The production was so successful it transferred the larger Classic Cinema on Kings Road, London, in August of 1973. The transfer was even more successful and it transferred again to the Comedy Theatre and again to the Kings Road theatre, a run-down converted cinema seating 400 that was scheduled for demolition. There it ran for seven years closing in 1979. The show received critical praise as well as numerous awards and a cult audience grew that would attend over and over. It became a highly regarded "it" trend in London of the mid 1970s. Lou Adler had made millions with risky ventures such as Monterey Pop. His record label, "Ode Records" was becoming known for harvesting experimental talent. In late winter of 1973, Adler attended a performance of the show with Britt Ekland and acting on impulse and seeing what had become a hit, he met backstage with producers and within 36 hours had secured the American theatrical rights. The show premiered at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles on March 24, 1974, running for nine months. The cast was all new except for Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien. The show sold out all performances and a deal was made with 20th Century Fox for a film. The American cast added the singer Meat Loaf to play Eddie. He often talks about all of the different celebrities that would come to the show and in particular his meeting with Elvis Presley after a performance. Before he became Senator, Al Franken, he worked as a lighting apprentice on the show. The Rocky Horror Show had a revival on Broadway from October 2000 to January 2002 at the Circle in the Square Theatre and featured Tom Hewitt as Frank N. Furter, Alice Ripley as Janet, Ra�l Esparza as Riff Raff, Joan Jett as Columbia , Lea DeLaria as Eddie/Doctor Scott, and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Magenta. Dick Cavett played the Narrator but during the run, it became THE role to do and it was played by a host of celebrities, including Gilbert Gottfried, Sally Jesse Raphael, Robin Leach, Penn & Teller, New York Post columnist Cindy Adams, MTV personality Dave Holmes, and talk show host Jerry Springer. The Revival was nominated for four Tony Awards.
$
|
